Lance’s SCA 120 Build Thread

[lanceinhuntsville]

Decided to combine the aquascape into a single 42” ridge. I’ll put this along the back and place the rocks that are in the 40B in front of this.

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

Got the mounting arms up, and the additional AP700 hung. Going to run the cord through the wall to hide them, I think. Got a couple raceways for the cords. I’ll have to put the other one up as I’m transferring the 40B corals and fish over. Luckily the cord is on the right side of the fixture so it shouldn’t be too hard to get it done with a full 120 gallons in the tank.

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

Hooked up the Reef Dose 4 and the reactor. Put a couple holes in the side of the stand for cord access to the control board. Also put up the interior lighting. Making progress!

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

I think everything is hooked up, besides the equipment I’m pulling off the 40 gallon!

Rinsing sand this weekend, I might actually be able to transfer livestock by Thanksgiving!

Got the controllers mounted to the controller board too, hopefully won’t be too long to swap the components from one tank to the other.

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

Sand and rocks rinsed and in the tank!

Took a few rounds in the 44 gallon brute (about 15 fill ups) but the water eventually went clear

This was bucket 5… very dirty sand!

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

Leak test on the tank went great. Leak test on the plumbing… well…

Had some water coming out of the 1/2” union threading on one of the return pipes. Tried everything from tape to superglue to correct it to no avail. Cheap schedule 40 fitting. Should have gotten the good stuff.

A trip to Lowes and 24 hours of cement curing later, we’re in business!

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

Got my @FishOfHex test kit organizers in. Absolutely perfect!

 

[Goaway]

beautiful build!

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

beautiful build!

Thanks! I can’t wait to get everything transferred!

 

[Goaway]

Lots of room for a lot of things. It's such a nice tank. I have the 112g, I wanted a 5' over the 4'. Although, the 4' setup would make for a much better sump. I love what you have done with yours

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

Transferred last night, everything looks to still be healthy this morning!!

The transfer was a lot messier than I anticipated. Lots of splashing, my Dottyback decided to hide inside a rock as I pulled it out so we had to scramble to find her and get her into water. She was very stressed but seems to be exploring this morning as usual.

My Flame Angel decided she would fight the net in a death match and bit onto it. She didn’t let go for a few minutes so we were stuck just holding the net in the water until she decided it was a draw.

Melanurus Wrasse buried himself in the sand while I transferred the rocks and other fish so I had to use a kitty litter scoop to dig him out while I was collecting all the other burrowing creatures (snails, crabs, bristleworms). I think we managed to get all the living creatures transferred, minus about half the pandoras, which I dropped cracking rocks open looking for the Dottyback. I’m not too bummed about it, it was about 50 polyps but they should all grow back in the next 20 minutes or so…

Overall, the livestock transfer was as exciting as I figured it would be, but everything is happy today and they’re all enjoying the space. Now I get to begin cleanup mode and break down the 40 gallon.

Current stocking as of today:

Fish:
2 Ocellaris Clowns
Flame Angel
Green Chromis
Orchid Dottyback
Banggai Cardinalfish
Melanurus Wrasse

Corals:
3 Torches
Hammer
Aussie Crown Leather
Alveopora
3 Ricordea Mushrooms
Candy Cane
Platygyra
Branching GSP (and encrusting)
Pandora zoas
Sunny D zoas
Bam Bam zoas
Dragon Eye zoas
AOG zoas
Gator Eye zoas
Blue Eyes Barbie zoas
Radioactive Dragon Eye zoas
Eagle Eye zoas
Rasta zoas

Inverts:
Blue legged hermit crabs (~15)
Astrea snails (~15)
Nassarius snails (~15)
GIant turbo snails (2)
Friendly bristleworms (who really knows)

 

[Seek&Reef]

After just shy of 1 year of running a 40 Breeder with HOB equipment, we have decided to go with a larger system and do it the way I said “I wish I had done it this way” throughout the last year.

40B HOB setup:

40B is running a Kessil AP700, Octo Reef Classic 100 HOB Skimmer, Tunze Comline 3168 filter, and two IceCap 2K Gyres. Running a Hydros setup with two Hydros power strips and a Tunze ATO pulling from a 10gal aqueon.

New tank arrived today, an SCA 120 (48x24x24) drilled for 16” Synergy Shadow overflow. Now waiting on the Synergy CL-34 sump (probably 6 weeks or so) and some other stuff to trickle in.

Drum set pictured for scale

We’re excited to set this up and get some floorspace back

———————

UPDATED Tank Info Below

Last update: Nov 23, 2021

———————

System info:

Tank: SC Aquariums 120 Gallon 48x24x24
Stand: SC Aquariums Wood Stand 36”
Overflow: Synergy Shadow V2
Sump: Synergy CL-34
ATO: Synergy 5-Gallon reservoir with Tunze ATO
Skimmer: Red Sea RSK 300 Reefer
Return Pump: Sicce Syncra SDC 7.0
UV: Aqua Ultraviolet 25W Classic
Water Treatment: BRS Carbon/GFO Dual Reactor w/ MightyJet 8501 Pump (running ROX and Purigen)
Lighting: Kessil AP700 (x2)
Control: CoralVue Hydros XS and X2
Flow: IceCap 2K Gyre (x2)

Fish:
2 Ocellaris Clowns
Flame Angel
Green Chromis
Orchid Dottyback
Banggai Cardinalfish
Melanurus Wrasse

Corals:
3 Torches
Hammer
Aussie Crown Leather
Alveopora
3 Ricordea Mushrooms
Candy Cane
Maze Coral
Branching GSP (and encrusting)
Sunny D zoas
Bam Bam zoas
Dragon Eye zoas
AOG zoas
Gator Eye zoas
Blue Eyes Barbie zoas
Radioactive Dragon Eye zoas
Eagle Eye zoas
Rasta zoas
Purple and green zoas that I forget the name of

Inverts:
Blue legged hermit crabs (~15)
Astrea snails (~15)
Nassarius snails (~15)
GIant turbo snails (2)
Friendly bristleworms (who really knows)

That is gorgeous!!!

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

That is gorgeous!!!

Thanks! I’ve been staring at it all morning, I humbly have to agree

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

Got a new tank present for myself. ~30 heads on this Duncan from @Corals.com!

Got a little sinularia while I was shopping too

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

Over 72 hours since the transfer, still no detectable ammonia (per the Seachem badge). Never used bottled bacteria, did not pre-cycle the rocks. Simply transferred marinepure spheres and established rock from the 40-gallon tank and everything is thriving in the clean water and sand with established rock. @brandon429 thanks for collecting the info on how to do this right!

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

Well, came home from the LFS with my Black Friday BTA to find a polyp bail-out on one of my torches. I dropped it head-down while it was mounted to a rock yesterday during aquascape adjustments, with the full weight of the rock on top of it. Probably about 10 lbs. My tongs slipped while I was trying to find the perfect flow for it. I’m not shocked it died but I was holding it hope for it. My clowns loved that thing. Hopefully the BTA will thrive and be a good home for them, but I didn’t intend to trade.

 

[lanceinhuntsville]

The BTA moved overnight and wedged itself between two rocks. Guess it doesn’t want to be a clown home yet.

 

[Rewd]

Hey Sorry to bump your old thread. Love your build! When you moved your coraline covered rocks from your 40B to the new tank, did you keep them submerged? Were they exposed to air at all? My tank is absolutely painted in beautiful coraline and I'm about to do a similar tank swap as you. I'm afraid to disturb it after letting it establish for a year